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"When Did the church of Christ Begin?"

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"When Did the church of Christ Begin?"

Truman Smith


OFTEN THERE ARE THOSE who desire to know when the Lord's church had its beginning. Please consider the following:

If you were to start reading your Bible from the very first book (Genesis) and continued reading right on through the Bible, you would find that every time you read about "the kingdom" it would be spoken of as yet in the future, until you reached the second chapter of Acts of the Apostles. Then, after you pass the second chapter of Acts, it is spoken of as already in existence. Please notice Acts 2:47 where it says, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." It is in the second chapter of Acts that we find the establishment of Christ's kingdom. Acts 2:33 speaks of Christ seated at the "right hand of God," which is to say that He is king in His kingdom, the events of which took place about A.D. 33. Please observe also that "kingdom" and "church" refer to the same institution. One reason we know this is because Jesus speaks of His church and kingdom all in the same breath in Matthew 16:18,19. (Cf. Also Hebrews 12:23,28).

For further proof that the church of Christ had its beginning on the first Jewish Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ, as recorded in Acts chapter 2, one might consider Mark 9:1, which tells us that the kingdom would come "with power" before some of the apostles died. Just prior to His ascension, Jesus gave the Great Commission to His apostles, and then commanded them to return to Jerusalem and tarry there until they received "power" from God (read Luke 24:49). The "power" would come when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:1-8). Jesus then ascended to heaven and they returned to Jerusalem as He had commanded (Acts 1:9-14). So, it was while they were there, waiting in Jerusalem, the "power" came (Acts 2:1-13). Remember, the kingdom was to come "with power" (Mark 9:1).

Briefly we have shown the church that we read about in the Bible is almost 2,000 years old. But because men were not satisfied with the church as God established it, many denominational bodies have spread upon the earth. However, these religious bodies are not the true church of which we read in the New Testament of Jesus Christ.

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